ARTICLE

1Institute of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101,Philippines2Institute of Arts and Sciences, Pampanga Agricultural College, Magalang, Pampanga 2011,Philippines3Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101,Philippines

This study aimed to isolate bacteria that are able todegrade a wide range of hydrocarbon (HC)compounds. Samples were taken from soilcontaminated with engine oil using mineral saltmedium (MSM). Taxonomic classification of twoisolates, using the Biolog Microbial Identification System,revealed that they are actinomycetes belonging to the suborderCorynebacterineae. Nucleotide sequences from amplified 16Sribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and phylogenetic analysis showedthat the isolates (designated as G1 and G2) are two differentstrains of Gordonia terrae. The isolates are capable of degradingHCs specifically n-alkanes as demonstrated by HC utilizationfingerprints and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) experiments. Their capability to grow on a wide range ofsaturated HCs is attributed to the presence of the alkanehydroxylase (alkB) gene. The isolation of these bacteria hasadded the limited number of species that are able to degradeshort- to long-chain saturated alkanes.